A 1932 New york times article mentioning "Titanic thompson," the real-life gambler on whom Guys & dolls sky masterson is based
Damon Runyon was an American journalist and author, most popular in the 1930s and 40s. Runyon was best known for his short stories celebrating Broadway, and the beautifully greasy class of criminal that inhabited the area. Runyon’s short stories were wildly popular in his time, the public snapping up copies of his latest as soon as they hit the stands. He single-handedly created a new genre, providing the American public with something new and exciting - something they had never known they wanted, but now craved. The books, filled with petty criminals and mostly-harmless hustlers, gave everyday people a peek into the lives of the mysterious troublemakers that both intrigued and frightened them. Everyone, from Wall Street bankers to midwestern housewives, could experience the forbidden thrill of the "criminal" world - without ever being in danger. The characters walk a thin line; they are gritty and lawless enough to entertain, but not extreme enough to truly threaten. Everything about the world Runyon painted was designed specifically to entertain - even the language they use is different and exciting. Runyon’s characters spoke an interesting pidgin, made up of equal parts English, criminal slang, and words from Runyon’s own imagination. The world was recognizable, but different: an urban fantasyland for the harmless criminal.
Runyon created an idealized New York in his tales – a world where the guys in the know almost always get away with everything, and the horrible moments are only just moments. In The Idyll of Miss Sarah Brown (One of the numerous short stories on which Guys & Dolls is based), the craps game comes to a head as menacing mafioso Brandy Bottle Bates (who was renamed Big Jule in the Musical) uses his own, weighted dice, in an attempt to cheat at the game. Sky Masterson reaches for his gun, with the intent to shoot Bates – when Miss Sarah Brown storms in, unwittingly saving Bates' life and Sky’s bullet. Sky is never allowed to cross into the dangerous realm that Bates inhabits, though he comes close. There is a big distinction between Runyon’s main characters and the truly dangerous mafia men of the time – Runyon’s characters are fairly simple grifters and hustlers, not serious criminals.
Supposedly, the character Sky Masterson was based on high-stakes hustler Titanic Thompson, most famous in the 1920s and 30s. However, Sky Masterson stops just short of the true barbarity realized by Thompson. It was a known fact that if you crossed Titanic Thompson, you were risking your life. He had five known kills, most of which were people who had attempted to scam him. Thompson was also known to be something of a cheat – it was common for games in which he was involved to be “fixed.” Compared to his inspiration, Sky Masterson seems something of a saint – just one example of the “Disney-fication” Runyon utilized in order to create a more appealing - and marketable - literary world. This approach was obviously successful: his short story collections sold by the thousands, and Runyon is remembered today as an extremely important contributor to American literature.
Below is a link to Runyon's short story The Idyll of Miss Sarah Brown, on which Guys and Dolls is based.
Information drawn from
Cook, Kevin. Titanic Thompson: The Man Who Bet on Everything. New York: W. W. Norton &, 2011. Print.
Gopnik, Adam. "Talk It Up: Damon Runyon's Guys and Dolls." The New Yorker Online. The New Yorker, 2 Mar. 2009. Web. 15 Nov. 2012.
Runyon, Damon. Guys and Dolls: A Collection. New York: American Reprint, 1976. Print.
Schwarz, Daniel R. Broadway Boogie Woogie: Damon Runyon and the Making of New York Culture. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan, 2003. Print.
Gopnik, Adam. "Talk It Up: Damon Runyon's Guys and Dolls." The New Yorker Online. The New Yorker, 2 Mar. 2009. Web. 15 Nov. 2012.
Runyon, Damon. Guys and Dolls: A Collection. New York: American Reprint, 1976. Print.
Schwarz, Daniel R. Broadway Boogie Woogie: Damon Runyon and the Making of New York Culture. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan, 2003. Print.